Thousands of protesters outside the state Capitol on Tuesday, Dec 11, 2012, to protest the signing of the right-to-work bill by Gov. Rick Snyder. / Eric Seals/Detroit Free Press

Written by

Kathleen Gray

Free Press Lansing Bureau

LANSING - It was a futile attempt going in, but Senate Democrats tried Thursday morning to get a vote on a bill that would repeal the right-to-work bills passed in the frenzied final days of lame duck last year.

"I implore you to repeal these laws. It's making Michigan no place to raise a family," said Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, D-Taylor.

State Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, added that the state House is trying to enforce the right-to-work laws even before they take effect on March 28 by questioning long-term school and university contracts passed before the law takes effect.

"We have to stop this premature enforcement," he said.

But the Republican-controlled Senate voted 26-11 to pass the matter for the day.

The right-to-work law makes it illegal to require a financial contribution to a union as a condition of employment.

After they passed on the right-to-work vote, Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said, "If we don't have time to work on issues like right-to-work, we also don't have time to work on things like duck licenses."

The Senate then unanimously passed the bill to create a license plate for the Ducks Unlimited organization.